Everything You Need to Know About Windows 10

Microsoft has finally unveiled its next operating system, Windows 10. The latest event offered a nice look at the features that users can expect with Windows 10 across PCs, smartphones and tablets. Microsoft representatives emphasized and reemphasized that all these features would make for a much smoother experience.

Let’s start with the cosmetic changes

Joe Belfiore took the stage to announce a modernized Start menu to begin with. A subject of much debate with Windows 8, the Start menu can now set out a traditional list as it used to with older versions and it can also be expanded to fill the entire display. Speaking of display, the Continuum feature allows transition from modern UI to desktop UI as users shift from PC to touchscreen devices.

Windows 10 will offer enhanced multitasking with the Task View feature. The Action Center has been improved with a few tweaks here and there such as activating WiFi and Bluetooth upon clicking quick action buttons. Notifications displayed in the Action Center can also be expanded. For ease of access, Control Panel has also been merged with PC settings rather than having the two in separate locations.

Welcome to PC, Cortana

Rest assured, Cortana has been tailored to suit PC interactions. That’s right, assistant Cortana has finally been promoted from Windows Phones to desktop. She is just as resourceful as we have known her to be on mobile devices. Suffice it to say, the reminder and search features she carries will prove helpful for Windows 10 users. Users may ask for her help by calling her out or via text.

A full-fledged conversation that Belfiore had with Cortana at the event seems to suggest that her voice has a natural flow to it. Moreover, she seems to be witty, impulsive and extremely responsive as ever. Belfiore was able to get her to locate his PowerPoint slides, display his photos and play his music in an instant.

This is Project Spartan!

A nice and tidy browser saw the light of day as Belfiore demonstrated a report by The Verge. It’s yet to have a name, though. Wish to highlight something? Simply circle it with your finger. It doesn’t require a stylus to do that. Use a mouse instead, if you so desire. Designed using a new rendering engine, this new browser offers a flurry of modes to users besides just the convenience of use.

The Note taking mode allows users to annotate webpages and later share them with the help of the Share feature with Windows 10. Users also have the option to copy chunks of information off of websites and save it to OneNote using the clipping tool.

Spartan is a new web browser that has been built for the modern web from scratch

In addition, Reading mode sets a book-like layout for content that makes it easy on the eyes. It keeps out all those annoying ads that hamper your reading experience. The Reading list can sync your content across multiple devices for you to view later.

Cortana accompanies you here as well. She will be at your service with maps and directions if you happen to be on the road. Moreover, she offers weather details whenever you frequent the URL bar. What’s more, she would bring up the menu and contact details of a restaurant as you begin browsing its website.

PC Gaming and Xbox

Phil Spencer from Xbox managed to troll the viewers by showing Forza Horizon 2 being played on the screen before revealing that it was merely being streamed. Gamers can also use an Xbox app to share gaming clips with friends across Xbox Live, be it Xbox console owners or PC gamers. All it takes is a shortcut (Windows key + G) to access an interface for saving a screenshot or recording 30 seconds of video.

DirectX 12 API is also headed to Windows 10 which can bump performance of games by 50 percent. Microsoft seems to be taking baby steps in promoting cross play with a title like Fable Legends announced as one that Xbox One and Windows 10 gamers can play with one another. Also, full-fledged activity feed and messaging support have been introduced to make this experience ‘universal’ for gamers as they share messages across desktop and Xbox platforms.

Universal PC apps

Microsoft has been busy on creating apps tailored for the PC platform. Outlook is one of them. The app looks cleaner and simpler than before given that it has been designed in Word’s engine. Users have the option to personalize it such that the look matches their taste.

A modernized Calendar app was also unveiled which carries across all three platforms. OneDrive storage is also better and smarter than ever before at displaying a simple view of photos you store. The Photos app on board does not need to be prompted to enhance your photos; it simply does it on its own by removing red eye and adjusting the exposure. Similarly, People, Music and Maps apps will receive an overhaul before they are introduced across the board.

When can I access these features?

All these features will be available to users in the upcoming Windows 10 Preview build starting next week. Also, keep an eye out for the Windows 10 build for smartphones that you can enjoy after Super Bowl. Windows 10’s consumer version is expected to debut sometime around the end of the year.

misinformed article .. hahaha !!! from where you find this information that Linux share is just 1.8% ?

Taha Najam

Yay, another half assed, unresearched and misinformed article on propakistani! All you need to know about Windows 10 yet no mention of Windows 10 on phones, large screens (Xbox, Surface Hub) and probably the biggest announcement at the event: Holograms! This doesn’t even cover all the features of the desktop OS, which if you paid attention, won’t all make an appearance in the coming build as the article claims (Spartan won’t be available for at least a couple more months) and then straight up fabricates stuff with sensational statements like “Phil Spencer trolled everyone” in a pathetic attempt to generate page views. And ever heard about pictures? Yeah, the thing they say conveys a message better than a thousand words and also looks nicer than just a boring wall of text? Need I remind you it’s 2015 and were not using 56k modems anymore that loading a few images will take ages. I can’t wrap my head around how such reports even make it out to publication without being reviewed by an editor who knows one thing about Journalism 101. What a disappointment.

Jaazzmeen

The HoloLens is another product (like Windows 10). I don’t know why you think it should be mentioned in a post that is solely about Windows 10 and not about the whole event.

Second, the sentence about Phil Spencer, how is that supposed to generate page views? It was a simple observation.

I have never commented on ProPakistani before, but your comment is so full of unnecessary vitriol and hatred that I had to say something. If you have issues with the website’s “half-assed, unresearched and misinformed” work, you should stop reading it. Will do wonders for your heart and mood.

Taha Najam

It should be mentioned because it is powered by Windows 10 and demonstrates what Microsoft is planning for the future of computing – to escape from the confines of screens and integrate into our daily lives. Actually, the whole event yesterday was about Windows 10. So in an article that claims it has “everything” you need to know about it but then fails to report half of it is inexcusable.

Secondly, the statement about Phil Spencer is a blatant lie. If you watch the stream (youtu. be/RUCn_rvDU-A?t=13m10s), these are his exact words: “I’m here to announce that with Windows 10, we will enable streaming of Xbox One games to any Windows 10 PC or tablet in your home later this year. And I’m gonna show you a demo of that on stage right now.” And then he proceeds to demonstrate, step by step, how to start the stream from the new Xbox app on a Surface Pro 3. The guy couldn’t have been any more clearer!

So whether it is lazy journalism or deliberate misreporting, this needs to be brought to light not only so that the author understands that we’re not as stupid as he thinks and there are people who will call him out for not adhering to his journalistic responsibility, which I doubt he even has any idea about, but also for the readers so that they know they are being misinformed or lied to.

Finally, there’s no unnecessary vitriol and hatred. Unlike you, who has never even bothered to leave a single comment or feedback on the site, and when you finally do, it adds nothing of value to the discussion, I honestly want Propakistani to improve and be on par with other international tech blogs and it literally hurts me to see articles like this. And no, “just stop reading it” is not an option. It’s akin to closing your eyes and pretending the problem will go away. A conformist like you may be fine with it, but I am not.

Serious Sam

“You’re a cynic. A slovenly, lackadaisical cynic.” People like you find it so convenient to bad-mouth others and hardly ever have anything good to say. SOME job you are doing to promote ProPakistani, I see. Don’t pretend to be so self-righteous; it only makes you seem dumber and an even worse liar.

How quick you are to jump at conclusions. there is a separate article on holograms, sonny. Your attitude shows how self-centered and rude you are. Its you thats the disappointment, going around and littering reasonably written posts pretending to be the body of knowledge without appreciating anyone’s work. Grow up and stop with the malice already.

Ahmed Habib

I am expecting much more from the new browser! I think it will gain popularity among developers as it will be default browser and no third-party.

M. Sadaf Ur Rehman

Tech world is rapidly changing. It is like the survival of the fittest. Yesterday, success can be a complete failure today. Yahoo and some other giants are core examples of those failures. Yesterday, event has shown that Microsoft is not ready to to surrender in likes of Apples’s IOS and Google’s Android. It is deeply interested in making Windows 10 a success by introducing many innovative changes with the slogan ” one family, one platform” .

drag0nslayer

Where is Windows 10 for phone in your article ?

Abdullah

the most anticipated feature is universal apps because no one implemented this concept till now .ms already dominates in desktop industry going head to head with sony consoles and windows phone is gaining ground so ms is really taking advantage of thier software experience with hardware

Yaseen Qazmi

EXACTLY my thoughts about Spencer trolling them PC gamers! That sly devil sure knows how to be humorous before an audience. :D I was like whaaaat..before he revealed the truth shortly after.

Ghulam.e.Ahmed

Now I am using Linux Mint as Desktop (replaced Open SUSE), and off course as per previous practice, windows as secondary OS thru Virtual Box :)